The burden of paying the Cross Bay Bridge toll may soon be relieved for residents of Rockaway and Broad Channel.
A proposed toll discount program — under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal — calls on the state and MTA to reimburse residents for E-Z Pass fees, $1.19 each way, paid for while traveling over the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Local elected officials and residents who pay the toll several times a day have long deemed the fare a problem, according to Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder.
Goldfeder — who has been a staunch advocate for a complete toll elimination — said the toll negatively affects an already sluggish local economy and places an inherently excessive financial burden on the residents and small businesses of southern Queens and Rockaway.
“We have been advocating relentlessly to end the toll on the Cross Bay Bridge,” said Goldfeder. “From the many civic and community leaders who rallied, to the thousands of community members who signed our petition, we are one step closer to successfully eliminating this toll completely and lifting a significant financial burden off the shoulders of many hardworking families and businesses in Rockaway and Broad Channel.”
